<DIV><DIV> <p class="CATLEADERS" style="MARGIN: 0in -31.5pt 0pt 0in; tab-stops: 4.5pt right dotted 463.5pt 6.5in">It was 1950, a brutally cold November in North Korea, and the war seemed all but over. And then a force of nearly 70,000 Chinese &quot;volunteers&quot; crossed the Yalu River, encircling the 30,000 United Nations troops at the Chosin Reservoir.<br> <br> The epic story of what followed--one of the iconic battles in Marine history--is told for the first time in gut-level detail in this book. From the point of view of the men in the foxholes and tanks, outposts and command posts, Chosin offers a harrowing, firsthand account of the 1st Marine Divisions breakout battle against overwhelming Chinese forces in the bitter North Korean winter. <br> <br> Seasoned military historian Eric Hammel describes the errors and miscalculations by American higher-ups that left the division strung out at the end of a narrow road scores of miles from the sea. Then he plunges into the action: the massing of Chinese forces; the punishing climate and terrain; the high-level over-confidence that crippled the American command; and the onset of the overpowering Chinese assault.<br> <br> His account provides a wealth of tactical and human detail and small unit action: from an intelligence officers efforts to make sense of conflicting reports, to engineers improvising a bridge from logs and snow, from Marines marching to POW camps, to a battle-weary messengers discovery of headquarter staff safely ensconced behind friendly lines, settling down in formal dress to a full-course dinner. The result is the most complete book ever written on this heroic battle, a masterful narrative from the perspective of those who fought.<br> <br> Previously published&nbsp;under the same title by Vanguard Press, 1981, ISBN - 081490856X; and by Presidio Press, 1990, ISBN - 089141782.</p> </DIV>